College and Research Libraries Recent Publications BOOK REVIEWS Beniger, James R. The Control Revolution: Technological and Economic Origins of the Information Society. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Univ. Pr., 1986. 493p. $25 (ISBN 0-674-16985-9). LC 85-31743. This book is structured around a theory describing the origins of what we loosely call the information age and explaining its significance in a broad context. The author makes a forceful statement about the deeper nature of information processing as an essential characteristic of life in gen- eral and of human evolution in particular. ''Life itself implies purposive activity and hence control . . . in national economies no less than in individual organisms. Con- trol, in turn, depends on information and activities involving information: informa- tion processing, programming, decision, and communication" (p.434). Historically, the need for industrial con- trol intensified as technology spurred the acceleration and greater complexity of hu- man activity, eventually to the point at which speed and complexity exceeded hu- man ability to cope adequately with them, both physically and mentally. That point was reached in the middle of the nine- teenth century when the railroad industry created unprecedented potential for the rapid dissemination of people, products, and communication, thereby stimulating a host of technological advances in other areas of the economy. As technology ac- celerated and complicated human activ- ity, society required greater control. That requirement led to further innovation in technology, which again stimulated speed and complexity of activities, and so on, in what the author calls a positively spiralling sequence or what traditionally has been called a vicious cycle. Beniger advances the thought that "a society's ability to maintain control-at all levels from inter- personal to international relations-will be directly proportional to the develop- ment of its information technologies" (p. 9). We have not just recently become an ยท information society; we always have been one. We simply are in a new phase, accel- erated at a higher level by microprocess- ing. Beniger has organized a vast amount of evidence to support the theory and expla- nations advanced in his book, a book which at times could be mistaken for a the- matic encyclopedia. It is stuffed with firsts, being largely a chronological survey of the major events in information-processing- as-control between 1840 and 1940. This fo- cus on information from varied research perspectives sheds considerable light on the meaning of an information society. At the same time the author's carefully con- sidered notion of a control revolution pro- vides an enlightening framework through which to interpret and interrelate the ma- jor social, economic, and technological .89 90 College & Research Libraries changes of the past century. Beniger ar- gues his control revolution theory con- vincingly. Specific parts of his relentless elaboration may be easily assailable, but overall he has given us a new way to view ourselves as a society and to consider our profession within it.-Charles B. Osburn, University Libraries, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. Hyatt, James A., and Aurora A. Santiago. University Libraries in Transition. Wash- ington, D. C.: National Assn. of College and Univ. Business Officers, 1987. 112p. $15 (ISBN 0-915164-29-9). LC 98- 12819. In Martin M. Cummings' The Economics of Research Libraries (Council on Library Re- sources, 1986), mention was made of a NACUBO-sponsored survey examining management practices of four university libraries undergoing rapid technological change, that is, in transition toward auto- mation. The book under review is the offi- cial report of that survey. The primary objectives of the study are: 1. to examine the management and planning of university libraries within the context of overall institutional goals and objectives; and 2. to examine the impact of technologi- cal changes on library operations, with re- gard to both current and future activities. The design and methodology of the proj- ect include the collection and analysis of background information on the participat- ing institutions, site visits and interviews on a set of issues with key campus admin- istrators and library officials, the docu- mentation of the site visit findings, and concluding overview of the survey results. It is, as the report rightly claims, "a landmark study, in that it not only pro- vides a detailed analysis of library automa- tion, but also describes institutional ap- proaches to acquiring and maintaining automated systems." The four libraries, all members of the Association of Re- search Libraries, differ in governance and organizational structure but combined manifestly represent major characteristics of many American research libraries. Princeton and New York University li- January 1988 braries are private institutions, and Uni- versities of Illinois and Georgia libraries are public state institutions. All four par- ticipate in national utilities: Princeton and NYU are members of RLIN, and Georgia and Illinois are members of OCLC. Both locally developed systems (Georgia's MARVEL, NYU's BOBCAT, Illinois' LCS/FBR) and externally purchased sys- tems (GEAC and Carlyle) have been in use, 'and almost all aspects of library func- tions (circulation, reserve, acquisitions, serial control, online catalog) have been involved. The case studies offer the reader some fairly detailed analyses of four quite different approaches toward library auto- mation, each responding to its specific needs and operating with its special strength and constraints. Princeton, with its tradition of participatory decision mak- ing and emphasis on scholarly research, developed its automation strategy by consensus-building among faculty, stu- dents, university administration, and li- brary staff. Its experience with the 3M venture notwithstanding, or perhaps be- cause of that, Princeton opted to purchase systems with proven viability instead of developing its own. The University of Illi- nois, with the strong support of the state and proactive role of the university librar- ian, assumed the leadership of a state- wide automated library system that effec- tively links a number of academic libraries throughout Illinois and makes resource sharing a reality with an active and effi- cient statewide interlibrary delivery sys- tem. The New York University, described as a ''federated institution,'' functions on many levels of informal contacts and over- lapping relationships. The library itself has had a history of decentralized gover- nance. Automation, which perforce pro- pels toward some degree of centralization, provides the library an opportunity to play a central role in the technological transition of the university in its teaching and research programs. This the Bobst Li- brary of NYU has in good measure pro- ceeded to do. With the active personal in- volvement of the dean of the libraries and the pivotal role of library automation in the technological transformation of the university itself, NYU libraries have been